Bumming Around New England

 I wanted to share some pictures of my trip to New England last month in case you might add them to your 'must visit' list.

I started in Sturbridge, Mass to see Old Sturbridge Village, but the one day I was able to go...they were closed.  Sob, sob.  I did enjoy my time in Sturbridge, and have been to OSV before.  It's a definite must visit for sure.

Then, we relocated to Maine to visit one of our favorite places, Kennebunkport.  

My husband's favorite food is lobster, and when in Maine, you eat lots of lobster. 

 (I don't care for it, so he ate my share and then some.)

Kennebunkport is a quintessential New England town with Old Glory flying proudly everywhere, and window box flowers on every home and business.

A visit to NE is not complete without a lighthouse.  

Just over the New Hampshire border, in Portsmouth, is a wonderful little gem called Strawbery Banke.  

This living history museum houses many homes, built in the mid 1600's to mid 1700's, all on their original foundations, in their original location.  Vary rare, indeed!  

Portsmouth is located on the water (no surprise by the name) and it is said that as the settlers ship approached the land, they noticed many, many bushes with little red berries along the water's bank.  They were, of course, strawberries.  They named their little town Strawbery Banke (pronounced Strawberry Bank) spelled phonetically in the 1600s.  

You can tour the many buildings still standing as they did when originally built.  Some have furniture of the period and some are empty. 

This particular home had a lot of furnishings.  The mustard wallpaper is a reproduction of the original found in the house.  

They had some lovely furniture from this time period in this dining room and in the bedrooms (coming up.)

I wanted to step into this kitchen and really take it all in.  I can't imagine preparing meals in a hearth like this, but folks did so for hundreds of years.

I know the counterpanes are original from this time period, but not sure about the whole cloth quilt.  The docent said the wood cradle would have cost $10 back in the day.

Gorgeous quilting on the whole cloth quilt, and a stunning pairing with the counterpane draperies.

Museum volunteers grow and tend to gardens in the yards of some of the homes, exactly the way they would have been in the 1600s.  No sprinkler systems here.  I thoroughly enjoyed my time at Strawbery Banke and in New England.  Each part of our beautiful country has so much to offer.  We're so very blessed!

IN THE STUDIO....I am so excited that my first fabric collection in nearly six months will be arriving soon.  

Prairie Backgrounds is a small collection of twelve prints: a mix of new shirtings, along with several neutral and black backgrounds.  I'll be taking pre-orders very soon, and have designed a small super cute project using the 10 inch precut.  Can't wait to share them with you!

Keep your needle busy and your heart content.  Be well, my friends.